My September 2009 Line-up

Hmm I’m trying something new here and see how it goes for the next few months. At the beginning of each month, I will blog about the new releases of anime and video games that catch my attention during the respective months. I’m not sure how long will I be able to do something like this, but I’ll try =).

Anime

Sadly, there’s nothing to write about in the anime section because the series that I want to watch are releasing at a later time. Oh well *sniff*.

Video Games

There are a few nice releases for video games though. There is one game that a lot of people are talking about, and that is Halo 3: ODST. Sadly, I don’t have an Xbox360, so it will not be in this list =(. I am still waiting for Halo 3 to come to the PC! Though I doubr that Bungie is even interested to port it…

Section 8

Developer: TimeGate Studios
Publisher: SouthPeak Interactive
Platforms: PC / Xbox360
Genres: First-person Shooter / Sci-fi
Release Date: September 4, 2009

I have played the multiplayer open beta not too long ago and it is pretty good. There is only one multiplayer mode as far as I know, and it is pretty much Capture The Flag. Well, at least that’s what I thought at the beginning. As the game progresses, there will be side missions that you can choose whether or not to take part in. For example, there may be a time where a convoy enters the map. If you are the team with the convoy, you will have to protect it as it tries to get to its destination. The enemy team will try to destroy it. Other than this, I have played something like a VIP hunt, and also a package delivery. These side missions bring a nice little change in gameplay, and also a challenge to players.

It seems like this game’s main focus will be its multiplayer mode though. I know the E3 trailer looks really nice and really story-based, but the gameplay of the singleplayer mode is like skirmish. There will be 2 teams and you guys will be fighting each other in a map. When you die, you will respawn and continue fighting your way through the objectives. I don’t know what you guys think, but I feel this is a real turn off for me… I will still try it, but I’m not sure how long will I be playing it.

Need For Speed: Shift

Developer: EA Black Box / Slightly Mad Studios
Publishers: Electronic Arts
Platforms: PC / Xbox360 / PS3 / PSP / Mobile / iPhone
Genres: Sim Racing
Release Date: September 8, 2009

For the past few Need For Speed games, it has been all about underground arcade racing and modifying your cars and it all started with Need For Speed: Underground. In my opinion? They should have just stopped at Most Wanted and move away from that them, and that is what EA is doing with Shift. It is street racing and I believe you are still able to customize your cars, but the main focus of this game is realism. Yes, they have moved away from the arcade style racing to simulation racing. Judging from the E3 demo, I feel that they have done quite a good on it, though I may get dizzy with the camera shake in the cockpit view.

Like the previous Need For Speed games, there will be some sort of a story mode where you are a character and then you will slowly work your way through race after race to reach the top. I am really interested to see how this game turns out. It may get back my interest in racing games =).

Resident Evil 5

Developer: Capcom
Publishers: Capcom
Platforms: PC
Genres: Third-person Shooter / Sci-fi Horror
Release Date: September 14, 2009

The only Resident Evil game that I’ve “played” was Resident Evil 4. When I say “played”, I meant going through the first few missions and not touching again. I can live with the slow-paced gameplay, but its the controls which really turned me off. I was not able to strafe and therefore making it really hard for me to kill those zombies which are just around a corner. When I heard that players will be able to strafe in Resident Evil 5, I was really really glad. So now the only thing that concerns me, is that I may not be able to understand what is going on in the story. The game is a direct sequel to the 4th game, so I hope there will be a recap of some sort about the story so far.

Resident Evil 5 was already released earlier this year, but only on consoles. To make up for the very late PC release, Capcom has added exclusive costumes and an improved mercenary mini-game. I don’t really care about the costumes, but what I do care about is the cooperative online multiplayer. I have always love cooperative games instead of competitive ones. It just feel more fun to me. I just really hope the controls and the story turn out well.

Red Faction: Guerrilla

Developers: Volition Incorporated / Reactor Zero
Publishers: THQ
Platforms: PC
Genres: Third-person Shooter / Sci-fi
Release Date: September 15, 2009

Red Faction: Guerrilla is yet another game that has a delay for the PC release. The console versions were released around June this year along with a DLC pack released in August. I have managed to play a little bit of it at a shopping mall and the game feels quite ok. Nothing really awesome other than the nice physics accompanied with explosive visuals… Well… I guess you can look forward to the story? I’m not sure how strong is the story aspect of the game, since it is pretty sandbox-y. You have to go to the different parts of Mars to free them from the Earth Defense Force.

The only thing I can remember most vividly during my short playing experience was driving this big-ass machine that can destroy almost everything in the game. And another thing I did in the game, was trying to tear down a building with my trusty axe! I never get to find out if it is possible though, because there was a line behind me so I couldn’t play too long. The most I did was to completely destroy the walls of one side of a building. I guess I will have to wait for the game’s release to continue where I left off =D.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona Portable

Developer: Atlus
Publishers: Atlus
Platforms: PSP
Genres: Role Playing / Adventure
Release Date: September 22, 2009

To be honest with you guys, I have never set my eyes on any Shin Megami Tensei games until this year, and it is all thanks to Giant Bomb’s Persona 4 Endurance Run. I started to look up games under the franchise and so far I have only managed to play Devil Survivor for the Nintendo DS. I am not really fond of the gameplay graphics for Persona Portable, but then again it is a port from the Playstation 1 version, so there were technological limitations last time.

However, it is not just a crappy-ass port. Atlus seems to have revisited the game and edited some things. For example, the in-game cut-scenes were remade and the GUI was revamped. I am glad that Atlus is taking the time to do all this to ensure that it will not be a lousy port. I pretty much have an idea as to how the gameplay will be like, so my only concern is how good will the story be. But then again, the reviews for the original Playstation version were mostly positive, so I guess there’s not much too worry about.

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With this many releases, my September holiday seems to be a very promising one! November is also another month to look forward as some highly anticipated games will be released during that month.

~ by clementgx on September 5, 2009.